🗝PolyamorKey🗝

My final Art Fight revenge; a gambling goblin & her wormy wiseguy for Magical_Raccoon!

I just tried to follow all my Art Fight mutuals on Tumblr &/or IG, so... pleasepleaseplease follow me back @deathpetalart (& @polyamorkey if you liked my OCs 🥰 You're all SO freaking talented & skilled & creative dawg omg 😭 Like why do I only have all these incredible mutuals on the site that works 1 month of the year???

give that knife/sword fight survivor nerve damage. give the character who was shot in the gut a stoma. give that fire survivor lung damage and an oxygen cannula. give that leg injury survivor a cane. give that starvation survivor gastroparesis. give that spinal injury survivor a manual chair or powerchair.

What does change for Mias (other than gaining self esteem & self acceptance & discovering people will make the effort to include him & his love life is far from over) is that he & his friends discover ✨magic✨ But magic isn't there to "fix" his disability!

Because, & say it with me now...

For coming up with character names:

Behind the name (my absolute fav)

Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.

You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.

Census sites

Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.

For coming up with place names:

Fantasy name generator

This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.

For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:

One Look Thesaurus

This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.

For coming up with ideas:

Word cloud

When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!

WWF Discord

This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!

For visualizing places and characters:

Pinterest

Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.

This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.

(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)

Death to Stock

Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).

Cosmos

Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.

Dupe Photos

Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!

Minecraft

If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.

The Sims

This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.

For checking grammar:

Grammar Girl

Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.

Grammar Monster

This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.

Reedsy

Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.

For writing advice:

One Stop for Writers

This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.

My Blog Directory

Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!

For an alternative to Google Docs:

Ellipsus

Think google docs but without AI. Yay!

𓆩♡𓆪

Sim + outfit combo: Gia (Hime ver.) (ᴗ͈ ˬ ᴗ͈ )ꕤ. "Gia has always dreamt big. She hopes to one day become a princess, live in a castle, and meet her one true love... okay, maybe that's too much, especially when she wants to be a mangaka and has six beloved bunnies. But she can dream!"

𓆩♡𓆪

I'm imagining a world where, 20 years ago, I was flying down an icy hill on a sled, except this time, I wasn't alone...

I'm creating a comic, & putting my 3 high school OCs through a version of the sledding accident that crushed my spine when I was 16, & almost ended my life. But unlike me, they'll have each other. & that means that on some level, I'm retroactively not alone. Maybe it's dumb, but I feel less alone. They'll still have to deal with the grief & loss & survivor's guilt, as only one of the three is permanently paralyzed in the accident, but unlike me, they also get to go live in a scifi house that's secretly a spaceship, & find out that magic is real, & accidentally open a portal to a verdant world of misty green floating ruins where they meet a really hot alien, & an actual living furby jumps through into their house & starts terrorizing their cats.

At least, that's the plan. 22-44% of people with spinal cord injuries develop what's called central pain disorder, & I drew the short straw, so I know only agony. But I'm starting yet another new drug trial, so we'll see.

EDIT: Got some X-rays back. I've been walking around with broken titanium rods in my spine for 2 fucking decades. So I'm feeling pretty grim & dark right now. It's really hard to work on a comic about 3 teens experiencing the same accident I went through when I'm suddenly bleeding freely from all those old wounds again. Hell, I think I've found new wounds. I haven't grieved the fact that I could have lived a normal independent life. I didn't have to be a loser, crippled by constant agony. I could have stayed in school, stayed in CA, & protected my brother from his mother, instead of running to protect myself. I keep waiting, expecting I'll wake up from a nightmare, & the last 20 years will vanish. I wish they would. They're all a mistake. All of them. I've done nothing but barely survive. I've done nothing but haunt my own body like an unwelcome ghost.